November 29, 2015

Taking its cues from micro-financing for third world countries, Go Fund Me probably started with no particular intentions - other than making money in the usual manner for the owners - and quickly became a repository for first world petty wants and indulgences, wrapped up as need. It's like begging, only from the safety of your couch.

A
quick survey of sites shows that many people seem as interested in
being the next guest on Ellen DeGeneres as in getting funds. (Meeting
Ellen DeGeneres is a surprisingly common request on GoFundMe.)

Here’s
the question I can’t stop asking myself: Has social media made our
craving for attention and validation overwhelm all other considerations?
There is nothing new about asking your friends for help (remember rent
parties?), but that help was confined to a small group of people you
actually knew.

Now,
no such boundaries exist. Your 4,000 Facebook friends should know if
you can’t pay for your rent — or your plastic surgery. And who knows?
They may just pay up.

There was a time when there were needs, and there were wants, and we knew the difference. Now? Now I’m not so sure.